How has Uttarakhand fared four years after devastating floods?
The Kedarnath tragedy was one of the worst natural disasters in the world. On June 16 and 17, 2013, swollen Himalayan rivers washed out human settlements, livestock and agricultural lands down the stream.
There were landslides all over the valley that led to the loss of more than 20,000 lives, including tourists, as well as infrastructure and property. The tourism and hospitality sector, which contributes close to 30-35 per cent of Uttarakhand's GDP, collapsed.
The state economy majorly depends on tourism, subsistence agriculture, and remittances. Mineral resources are limited, and industries are few in the hill region. It is primarily an agricultural state as around 70 per cent of the population is occupied in the fields and related sub-sectors.
It is a paradox that in a mountain state with minimum land available for agriculture, the primary source of livelihood is agriculture. As landholdings are characteristically small and fragmented, production is not sufficient for a household's whole year consumption.
During the tourist season (May-September), thousands of pilgrims visit the Hindu religious shrine of Kedarnath temple, and during these 4-5 months, the local community and youngsters from adjoining villages get occupied in various tourism-related activities to earn a livelihood - this helps suffice food and other requirements for the rest of the year.
The floods had an adverse consequence on the livelihood and food security of the affected people. As the river Mandakini attained its original course of flow, many hectares of standing crops and agricultural land on the flood plains were submerged or wiped away.
The rock debris collected during construction of roads was thrown down the slopes and dumping of muck near the river bed by hydroelectric power plants resulted in water surges that washed away highways, and connecting roads and bridges, with the result that market and food supply links were impacted.
Tourism-based livelihood was hit as many unauthorised multi-storey hotels, restaurants, dhabas, and shops built in low-lying areas were destroyed due to massive erosion caused by the river. The Chardham Yatra was intermittently interrupted with four more months to go.
Due to the 2013 disaster, damages to agricultural land, crops, horticulture, livestock, MSMEs, forests and associated non-timber forest products have heightened the challenges of economically vulnerable agrarian groups, and looming food insecurity has expanded the pace of outmigration.
Post the disaster, emergency relief supplies were provided by the government and humanitarian organisations for four to five months to affected villages. Some NGOs signed MoUs with the district administration to help in the tasks of building houses for villagers, repairing school buildings, construction of new schools, anganwadi and health centres, ensuring supply of safe drinking water and planning out livelihood programmes. But it is learnt that many NGOs left as early as four months.
Compensation was given for the lives lost and houses damaged. However, the issue of sustainable livelihood still deceives the families who lost their businesses and sources of employment. It seems the government has not bothered to think about a policy for sustainable development and planned construction keeping in mind the fragile ecology of the hills. This increases community vulnerability towards calamities and enhances the rate of outmigration in the mountains.
Looking at the devastation, nobody ever imagined that the Kedarnath yatra could resume the very next year. The Himalayan state is majorly dependent on religious tourism for its livelihood. It was thus essential for the government to restart the pilgrimage as soon as possible to help the community with their livelihood. In 2014-15, few devotees visited the holy shrine. In 2016, the pilgrims were a lot more and this year the yatra is going on in full swing.
In the aftermath of the 2013 disaster, one needs to think that when climate change seems inevitable, what measures should be taken to mitigate extremes of the climate and ensuing disasters and what are the sustainable livelihood options that could simultaneously generate income and maintain the ecological balance of the state?
There is a need for revival and expansion of existing traditional and non-traditional livelihood opportunities and removal of existing bottlenecks. Technical interventions to enhance agriculture productivity and appropriate measures to improve the breed and productivity of cattle are much required. Millet, which has a short growing season, is important as it provides highly nutritious grain and fodder for the cattle, and should be cultivated in a larger area.
Non-traditional, eco-friendly livelihood options such as bee-keeping and silk value chain need to be practiced extensively. Existing bottlenecks need to be sorted out and marketing support should be guaranteed to products like bamboo, handicrafts, hand-knitted shawls etc, which are sold at throwaway prices by the local people.
An inclusive approach to food security and livelihood intervention needs to be designed in such a way that it includes the most vulnerable and marginalised sections of society.
For livelihood and entrepreneurship development, mobilisation of individual households at village level to form self-help groups that helps to generate the local economy is essential. Involvement of the local community as a partner rather than beneficiary with benefit-sharing mechanism is more favourable, as they respond well to incentives and have aesthetic sense and value biodiversity.
One should keep in mind the socio-political nexus while planning and implementation, as communities in the hills strongly practice hierarchy by caste so they may respond differently. Therefore, one community engagement model doesn’t fit all. There is a need to train youngsters in various service areas. Financial and technical support is available under Pradhan Mantri Skill Development Scheme to train people for sectors like solar equipment repair, mobile repair, basic computer applications etc, that not only give livelihood opportunities but will also be helpful in the tourism sector.
Also read: Uttarakhand cloudburst: Has the state not learnt any lessons from 2013?